A report on the consultation, which closed in April, was published on 6 June 2019 and includes a summary of the comments received and how fishing authorities are responding to them.

Michael Coyle, head of compliance and control for the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), said: “We would like to thank everyone who responded to this consultation as well as more than 100 fishers who have been helping us to test the prototype of the catch recording service that we have been developing. We have listened to the concerns of individuals and industry and made three significant changes to the way that we will be introducing this licence change.”

One of these changes is the decision to carry out a phased introduction of the new service, beginning in July. By introducing catch recording to sections of the under 10m fishing fleet gradually, the project team will continue to learn from the experiences of owners and skippers throughout the summer and make improvements where necessary.

The second important change is removal of the requirement for a landing declaration. Submission of a landing declaration, within 48 hours of fish leaving a vessel had been set out in the original proposal for all quota and non-quota catches. Following several responses to the consultation, raising concerns about double reporting, this requirement has now been removed; the catch record is the only document needed.

The third change, to the catch recording service, removes the need for a separate paper transport document to be carried. As long as the estimated catch record has been submitted this digital record will suffice.

The MMO and Welsh Government are intent on supporting the viability and growth of the fishing industry. This project is an important part of this strategy as it will provide a better understanding of catch by the under 10 metre fishing fleet registered in England and Wales. Better data gathering will provide better scientific evidence and lead to better decision making.

Other benefits of introducing catch recording for under 10 metre vessels include: a greater understanding of the activities of under 10 metre fishing vessels, which will allow for better fisheries’ management; better records will also allow the origins of fish to be traced, which should lead to improved sales and marketing opportunities for the industry; and improvements in enforcing catch limits and quotas.

The new catch recording service will see the owners and operators of under 10 metre vessels, who catch and land species subject to quotas, catch limits or effort restrictions, recording their catch via a mobile device (a smartphone or tablet) prior to the fish leaving the vessel. This service would be available online (via a URL, from any device) and also as an app, which can be downloaded for both android and Apple devices.

Those who catch only non-quota species would have 24 hours to record their catch via either a mobile device, a personal computer or laptop.

This summer Welsh Government will be running a number of training events for owners and skippers and the MMO will be organising face-to-face sessions to demonstrate the new system. Further details will be released in the coming weeks.

The full summary of responses to the consultation can be found here.

Business leaders saw first-hand how our social impact programme is changing lives in West Cumbria.

The trip was part of the CBI’s regular group meeting, which was hosted this time by Sellafield Ltd.

Jamie Reed, head of corporate affairs, updated members on how Sellafield is transforming from a commercial reprocessing business to a remediation and waste management site.

He explained how this transition is supporting jobs and opportunities in our current and future workforce and in our supply chain.

The group were taken on a bus tour of education and economic development projects across West Cumbria which have been supported by us and our owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

The tour included:

• Construction Skills Centre
• Energy Coast University Technical College
• Energus Apprentice Training Centre
• A site earmarked for a possible Heathrow Airport construction hub
• Whitehaven Bus Station/Watershed project
• Campus Whitehaven

Jamie said:

It was a pleasure to host the CBI and to give members a flavour of the work we are doing to support our communities.

Our priority will always be the safe and secure clean-up of the Sellafield site, but we are also committed to ensuring our communities derive the maximum benefit from the work we do.

We are particularly focused on education, skills, and business development projects, which will help create a resilient and diversified local economy which benefits from Sellafield but is not reliant on it.

DECA, GAP Personnel, Allan Morris Transport, Jackson Fire, and Sealand Support Services Ltd. (SSSL), were the five North Wales organisations signing the Armed Forces Covenant at a ceremony organised by the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (RFCA) for Wales today.

DECA employs over 440 staff, of which more than 10% are ex-service personnel. The agency provides specialised maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade services for a wide range of electronic components used in UK Armed Forces’ vehicles, aircraft and ships, mainly from Deeside but at other UK sites too. The Agency is part of the SSSL Joint venture, with BAE Systems and Northrup Grumman that has recently won global assignments worth over £2Bn to support component repair on the new F-35 aircraft, which are flown by the Royal Navy and RAF.

Geraint Spearing, DECA Chief Executive said, “DECA has a long heritage supporting the UK’s Armed Forces and we are extremely proud to signal this commitment by signing the Armed Forces Covenant today, demonstrating out continued recognition of and support to those who protect our nation with honour, courage and commitment.”

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise from the nation that those who serve or have served in the UK Armed Forces, and their families, are treated fairly. The programme in Wales is delivered by the RFCA for Wales Regional Employer Engagement Directors on behalf of Defence Relationship Management. Over 120 Welsh organisations and employers have already signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

RFCA for Wales provides Defence with an extensive ‘network of networks’ to enable understanding and collaboration between the military and civil communities in Wales. There are over 3,000 signatories to the Covenant across the UK, with a growing number of organisations signing up to it every week.

Freya Squires has had her sentence increased to 4 years 8 months’ imprisonment by the Court of Appeal.

A teaching assistant who had sex with a pupil has had her sentence increased by the Court of Appeal to 4 years 8 months’ imprisonment.

Freya Squires, 46, worked as a teaching assistant. Over the course of 2 years she engaged in sexual activity with a 14 year old girl. Squires warned the victim there would be significant consequences if the relationship became public.

After pleading guilty to 6 counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust, Squires was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months’ imprisonment. The sentence was referred as being unduly lenient to the Court of Appeal and was increased to 4 years 8 months.

After the hearing the Solicitor General, Lucy Frazer QC MP, said:

“Squires was placed in a position of trust, a position that she repeatedly abused. Any mitigating circumstances in her case were not sufficient to justify such a lenient sentence and the Court of Appeal has rectified that.”

Damian Hinds visits Arsenal’s Double Club to see how it is helping pupils learn languages

Education Secretary Damian Hinds saw how Premier League football club Arsenal FC is helping school children learn and engage with modern foreign languages through its Double Club.

The Double Club is a pioneering initiative set up by the North London side and uses football to illustrate how learning a language can be fun, useful and engaging. The scheme culminates with pupils getting a guided tour of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

On Thursday, 13 June, the Arsenal-supporting Secretary of State joined pupils from Sheffield Park Academy in Sheffield to see the stadium and meet Dan Lane, Gunners manager Unai Emery’s interpreter, to understand just how useful languages can be.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:

The Double Club is a fantastic initiative that really brings to life how fun and useful learning a language can be by harnessing the diversity and popularity of football.

Being an interpreter at one of the greatest footballs club in the world would be a dream job for so many but for people like me who don’t speak another language well it’s out of reach.

We’re making good progress in encouraging more pupils to take languages, with the proportion taking a language at GCSE rising from 40% to 46% since 2010, but there is still more to do to persuade more young people to choose languages.

Dan Lane, interpreter for Arsenal manager Unai Emery, said:

I have been fortunate to enjoy great experience after great experience in my role – from travelling around Europe and the world to games, to being in the tunnel after memorable wins.

This has all been made possible due to my ability to speak Spanish, so I would certainly encourage as many young people as possible to take on the challenge of learning a new language.

By volunteering on Arsenal’s Double Club I hope to encourage more young people and educate them about the endless opportunities that can come from learning a second language.

Premier League and Football League teams all over the country carry out a wide range of activities in their communities but Arsenal’s programme is understood to be the only one focused on increasing the uptake of languages in schools.